Small business management glossary
ERP, CRM, e-invoicing, point of sale, AI: the words of running a small business, explained in a few lines, with what they change for you and what Eazyclick does with them.
A
- AI agent
- An AI agent is an artificial intelligence program that carries out several steps on its own to reach a goal (reading a request, looking up information, preparing a reply, proposing it), within limits set by the business.
- AI assistant
- An AI assistant is an artificial intelligence program you talk to in everyday language to get an answer, a text or an action. Built into business software, it works on that software's data.
- AI for small businesses
- AI for small businesses means using artificial intelligence in the everyday work of a small or medium-sized company: replying to customers, preparing quotes and reminders, summarising conversations and analysing figures.
- API
- An API (Application Programming Interface) is a documented way for one piece of software to read or send data to another, automatically, without anyone typing it in again.
B
- Break-even point
- The break-even point is the level of sales at which a business covers its fixed and variable costs over a given period. At that level, it makes neither a profit nor a loss, based on the prices, costs and sales mix assumed in the calculation.
- Business management software
- Business management software is a program that helps a company organise its administrative and sales work: customers, quotes, invoices, payments, stock and scheduling.
C
- Cash register
- A cash register (or till) is the device or software a shop uses to record sales at the counter, take payment, print or email the receipt and close the day with a report of the takings.
- Chatbot
- A chatbot is software that exchanges messages with a person, usually through a website or messaging service. It answers questions or guides an enquiry using prepared rules or artificial intelligence, within the information and functions available to it and the scope set by the business.
- Credit note
- A credit note is a document that cancels or corrects all or part of an invoice already issued. Under most VAT rules, an issued invoice cannot be edited or deleted: it is corrected with a credit note.
- CRM
- A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is software that centralises a company's contacts, conversations and sales opportunities, so that every customer and prospect can be followed up.
E
- E-invoicing
- E-invoicing is the issuing, sending and receiving of invoices as structured data (for example in the UBL format) that software can read automatically. A PDF sent by email is not a structured e-invoice.
- Electronic quote
- An electronic quote is a quote created, sent and accepted online: the customer opens it in a browser, accepts it with a click or a signature, and the acceptance is recorded with its date and time.
- ERP
- An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system is software that brings a company's management functions (customers, sales, purchasing, invoicing, stock, scheduling) together around a single database.
P
- Paperless office (dematerialisation)
- Dematerialisation, or going paperless, means replacing paper documents and processes (quotes, invoices, receipts, contracts, forms) with digital ones that are created, signed, sent and stored electronically.
- Point of sale (POS)
- A point of sale (POS) is the place and the system where a sale is completed: the till software, the card terminal, the scanner and the receipt printer, connected to the stock and the accounts.
- Purchase order
- A purchase order is a commercial document used by a buyer to specify the goods or services ordered, their quantities, agreed prices and delivery terms. It gives the buyer and supplier a shared reference for fulfilling the order and checking the invoice against what was ordered and received.
S
- SaaS
- SaaS (Software as a Service) is software used online, on a subscription, with nothing to install: the provider hosts it, keeps it up to date and looks after its security.
- SEO (search engine optimisation)
- SEO, or search engine optimisation, is the work of making a website easier for search engines to understand and more useful to people searching online. It combines relevant content, an accessible structure and the site's reputation to help pages appear in organic, unpaid search results.
U
- UBL
- UBL (Universal Business Language) is an open, standard XML format for business documents such as invoices, credit notes and orders, published by the OASIS standards body and widely used for e-invoicing.
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